Spike in fever cases in children in TN; no holiday for schools
As Tamil Nadu witnesses a spike in influenza cases among children, Opposition parties have urged the state government to declare a holiday for schools until the cases come down. However, the Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramaniam said that the government has already advised the parents not to send their wards with fever and cold symptoms to school and that the present situation does not warrant the closure of schools.
According to the health department officials, the number of people being admitted to hospitals with high fever crossed 5,000 on Monday (September 19). On Friday, as many as 4,740 people were hospitalised due to fever.
Similarly, from January until September 17 this year, as many as 970 people were admitted due to H1N1 fever. On September 17th alone, as many as 282 people were hospitalised, of which, 13 were admitted to a government hospital, while the rest were admitted to private hospitals.
The next day, on Sunday (September 18), as many as 368 people were admitted for H1N1 fever, of which, 42 were less than 5-years-old. The state has also witnessed 10 deaths due to H1N1 fever since January this year.
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Meanwhile, Puducherry has also witnessed a 50 per cent spike in fever cases among children. The Union Territory’s directorate of health and family welfare services has suggested that schools should be closed down for a short period of time for children in Class 1 to Class 8.
“Most of the children are reporting high fever, cough and cold. As a result, there is a substantive increase in the number of children going to various hospitals and in the number of in-patients in Rajiv Gandhi Govt. Women and Children Hospital, Puducherry,” said the UT’s health director in a letter to the director of the school education department.
In the letter, the director also said that the spread is high among children attending schools. “Ideally infected people must stay at home and maintain hand hygiene, face mask and maintain social distance to bring down this infection,” said the director in the letter.
However, when asked whether the schools in Tamil Nadu should also be closed due to the spike in cases, health minister M Subramaniam claimed that it was not necessary. “Usually, it will be more than 5,000 cases during this same time period. However, in the last two years, there have been fewer cases as people adhere to strict COVID-19 protocols,” Ma Subramaniam told the media.
He also added that the state government has advised all the government and private schools to isolate the children with fever symptoms and send them back home. “Parents have also been advised not to send their wards to school if they have fever symptoms. This fever will last for three to five days,” he said.
But, the Opposition parties in the state have demanded that the state government should declare holidays for children studying in Class 1 to Class 9.
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“The state health department should not take this issue lightly. Considering the health of the children, the state government must declare holidays for the school and reopen the schools once the fever cases recedes,” said Dr S Ramadoss, founder of Paatali Makkal Katchi.
Ousted AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam also urged the DMK government to take necessary action to educate the parents on the influenza virus and declare holidays for the school children.
He also alleged that some schools in the state are forcing the children to attend the school even if they are unwell due to exams. “Government should initiate action to create awareness among the people, to control the spread of the virus and stock enough medicines for the people. Until the number of cases reduces, the government should also postpone the exams,” Pannerselvam said in a statement.
